The Missing Bodies Investigation
by Yukiko Shi
Summary: Children have gone missing and their bodies never recovered. An investigator is called to try and discover what happened. Bringing Liepard with them, they find out what exactly happened to the children...but is it what they want to believe? Happy Halloween! Rated K To be safe. One-shot!


Happy Halloween!

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The Missing Bodies Investigation

A Pokémon Fan-Fiction

Written by FireCacodemon

Disclaimer: Pokémon belongs to Satoshi Tajiri, Nintendo.

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Summary: Children have gone missing and their bodies never recovered. An investigator is called to try and discover what happened. Bringing Liepard with them, they find out what exactly happened to the children...but is it what they want to believe? Happy Halloween!

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You stopped your car outside the forest. Removing the keys from the car, you turned your attention towards the case files lying innocently on the passenger seat next to you. You looked up at the mirror to see behind you, your Pokémon looked at you with a smile on her face. You smiled back at your Liepard, you loved your Liepard and she loved you back. You took great care of her and in return, she took care of you when you needed a pick-up. Looking back at the files, you took your hands off the leathery steering wheel and onto the files. The police had long given up on the case of the missing children and called the case to be closed without finding anything. While you dug through the police reports and found this unsolved case. Digging through what the parents had told you, they all entered this forest and never came back out again. That was the reason why you were here right now, parked at the entrance of the edge of the forest with your Liepard by your side.

"Are you ready?" You turned to face Liepard. Silence but a nod was the response, nodding at her, you unbuckled your seatbelt and grabbed the files. Pulling the door handle, the door opened. Stepping outside, the cold wind made your hair stands on end. The wind made you unconsciously retract back into your light brown trench coat, shielding as much as you can from the cold air. Stuffing the paper case files into your pocket you opened the back door for Liepard to hop out. She shivered slightly but looked up at you. Giving out a soft meow, she turned her attention back towards the forest.

 _Interview 1_

"I'm really sorry to bring this back up to you...this is about Samuel. When was the last time you saw him?" You asked the grieving mother. She simple nodded. Her eyes were glued to the plain wooden table which was in the way of you and Mrs. Grove. She was a single parent with brown hair tied back into a pony tail. Puffy red eyes from the amount of tears she shed every night as she cried for her lost son. The pink top she wore was made out of wool went well with her pale skin tone. She wore an engagement ring on her right hand.

She explained to me that he was a young age; he was about 7 years old and was on a camping trip with his school. Mrs. Grove made sure that every adult was aware about Samuel and his ability to find trouble after a few minutes. She was promised that he'll be under great care and that Samuel will be returned safe and sound. Naturally, his friends did their best to find Samuel after he vanished but they were around his age...the loss of a friend was very stressful to them and they had suffered. Samuel's friends' parents did everything they could to help Mrs. Grove find Samuel but nothing was done. The police were called and a huge search was conducted...the case was closed after. That was when you stepped in...But things were probably already too late.

"Samuel...he was on a trip with the local school. They were taken out camping for a few days. Samuel...he's a naturally curious boy. When something interested him, he would always go to find as much as possible about things." She started before she broke out into sobs. Nothing made people feel worse than seeing their own child taken from them and the parent not knowing what's happened. The self-blame that this was somehow their fault made things worse. "I didn't...even...say...goodbye!" She spoke through the tears. That must be the worst thing to hear. No one knows when they're going to move on to the next world or whatever you believe in. Death creeps up on us all and takes without warning. Even those who get diagnosed with a time aren't always correct. Death takes when Death chooses.

"Were you aware on any ghost-type Pokémon activity?" You asked her. She shook her head and wiped the tears away with a tissue. You felt Liepard nuzzle your hand. Looking down at your Pokémon, she had a tissue box in her mouth. Giving her a quick pet, you took the tissue box and opened it up, leaving the box on the table. Mrs. Grove reached for the box and took a tissue.

"Ghost-type Pokémon don't come out during the day."

"A common mistake, while ghost-type Pokémon are more likely to come out at night, haunted places or forests the sun isn't a restriction for them."

"You...think a ghost-type Pokémon did this...?" She asked you with her eyes widening at the thought.

"There have been cases around this time of year which were linked to ghost-type Pokémon. A Drifloon for example, it is whispered that any child who mistakes Drifloon for a balloon and holds on to it could wind up missing. Only one case has been filed from this but it has happened. Please be aware that not all things appear to be sweet and innocent." You sat back on your chair and watched as Mrs. Grove thought through what you had just told her.

"But..."

"Heard about Banette?"

"No?"

"An abandoned plush doll became this Pokémon. They are said to live in garbage dumps and wander about in search of the children that threw them away," again, you watched for a reaction. "Is it possible that one toy of Samuel's got lost and came back to get him?"

"No, Samuel treated all his toys with respect..."

"What about nature?"

 _Interview 1 Over_

Walking through the forest with Liepard only helped calm your nerves down slightly. If this forest was abandoned then ghost-type Pokémon were going to be more common. They were going to use this place as a playground and pull pranks on anyone. Liepard was here to help you through this. Taking out some pictures, you looked around to see if any Pokémon were here. That's when you caught sight of something quickly vanishing behind one of the trees. Liepard saw it too as she quickly ran over to the tree and looked behind. Failing to see the Pokémon that had just passed, she returned back to your side. You took out some pictures of the children who went missing in the woods. Some of them damaged part of the forest...they would be trapped in the forest by Trevenant.

"It can control trees at will. It will trap people who harm the forest, so they can never leave." You muttered under your breath as Liepard stopped. You stopped too. A strange disturbance filled your body with fear but curiosity at the same time you weren't sure what was causing this but you needed to move on. You needed to find what caused this, looking at Liepard, the two of you went to investigate what was causing the strange disturbance.

You and Liepard found what had caused your strange disturbance, nearby was a large family of Phantump with five large Trevenant were protecting the Phantump from any potential danger. Just watching the Phantump playing, reminded you of how children played together. That made your mind click. You remembered back to what you read about Phantump. According to old tales, these Pokémon are stumps possessed by the spirits of children who died while lost in the forest. It was possible that the children who were lost in the forest...became Phantump? It sounded impossible...One Phantump noticed you and floated over with a smile on its face.

"Hello little Phantump," you greeted the Pokémon. The Trevenant looked at you warily and Liepard wasn't too keen on staying here longer than needed. You agreed to leave once you felt satisfied.

"Phantump~" The stump Pokémon spun around happily. You moved to your pocket and pulled out a photo and showed it to the Phantump.

"Stupid question, but do you know this child...?" The Phantump recognised the photo. The Trevenant started to move, feeling that the Phantump were threatened, they moved to defend the small Pokémon. You felt the earth move from under you as the Trevenant began to use their own powers to manipulate the trees.

Tree roots sprouted from the ground around you and Liepard and quickly tried to slam themselves down onto you. You managed to avoid the first few roots that came crashing down on top of you but Liepard wasn't so lucky, getting struck by one of the roots, you felt your heart skip a beat as you heard the screech of Liepard shortly after hearing the tree root slam down on the ground. Turning around, you saw three Trevenants approaching and Liepard unconscious on the ground. If you tried to help Liepard then Trevenant would catch you and...You didn't want to think of what would happen then. If you didn't help, then Liepard's trust in you would have been broken. That was something you couldn't risk doing. You did what every trainer would have done. You ran back to Liepard as more roots came up from the ground and moved to slam. You did your best to avoid them all as much as you could but it wasn't easy. The roots were being controlled by Pokémon and the closer you got to Liepard, the more roots came down to attack you.

"Liepard!" You called out, hoping that your voice was heard by your best friend. But nothing happened...

"Phantump!" The Phantump you showed the picture before materialized in front of you, stopping the Trevenant's attacks. "Phantump phan phan!" The Pokémon communicated. You ignored what was going on and ran over to Liepard as she started regaining conscious. You felt your soul lifted as she opened up and eyes and looked up at you. A pleasant smile on her face was something that soothed your mind.

"You'll be okay Liepard," you spoke softly as you gave her a gentle pet. Looking around, you watched as the Phantump defended you and Liepard against the family guardians. This case is pretty clear...You knew where the missing bodies were...you knew what happened to the children.

The Missing Bodies Investigation

You sat back at your desk; the files of the missing children had been shredded. The case was solved and the parents had been told of what had happened. Liepard was by your side once more. On the desk was a picture...a picture of the family of Phantump with their human parents. You did a good job.


End file.
